The Darkest Light
by LeannaPotter2.0
Summary: Toby has no idea what to do with himself after Sarah's death six years ago, and so he acts out aggressively. But when Toby is visited by an odd stranger, he tells Toby something that just can't be true... "Sarah isn't dead. Toby... I know where she is."
1. Chapter 1

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CHAPTER 1

Twenty-one year old Toby Williams sat in the corner of his cell on the bare mattress that made up his bunk, back pressed against the hard stone wall. When he'd first been placed in his comfy new home just last night, several of the other inmates from neighboring cells, all of them looking to be at least 10 years older than Toby himself, kept asking what a young guy like Toby was doing in a place like this. Contrary to all of the movies he'd seen, many of the men and women there, at least the ones Toby could see, didn't look overly aggressive or menacing. Just a motley assortment of folks with anger or drinking problems. Despite this, at their questions, Toby simply stared long and hard at them in silence until they finally turned away and left him to his brooding.

Toby hadn't slept all night. He hardly ever slept anymore. Oh, there were a few hours of shut eye here and there so that he wouldn't pass out, but even those few hours were fitful and filled with nightmares, so he did with as little sleep as he possibly could. His father had no idea he was here, and nor did anyone else for that matter, since Toby had refused the offer to make a phone call. So, Toby was not expecting anyone to come and bail him out. And he'd stayed up all night, staring out of the barred window to his cell, watching the stars converse with each other in their secret language of twinkling and winking that no one but them could understand. It had made him sad and happy all at the same time, watching them, reciting the stories that the ancients before them had believed. He'd found himself crying silently most of the night, as he usually did when he was in jail and/or thinking about Sarah. He missed her so much...

Despite the age difference between the two of them, they'd always been close. She spent as much time with him as possible, hardly ever dating or going out with friends, holding him when he was little until one of them fell asleep. Even when she went off to college, she'd sent him emails every day and called him every week. And when she started working, she still came over often for dinner and would check him out of school a couple hours early just to take him out to lunch or an arcade or just a drive or something. And he loved her and he loved hanging out with her. It always seemed as if she were... afraid he'd disappear or something if she let him out of her sight. And Toby didn't mind one bit.

Until she checked him out early from school about 6 years ago, when he was first learning how to drive, and she insisted he drive to the mall. Toby was nervous, but excited, and happily got into the driver's side as Sarah got into the passenger's seat. Toby started the car and drove out of the parking lot of the school and out onto the street. Things went smoothly for the first few minutes, but when Toby turned onto the highway... that's when things went all to hell. A sleek, black Cadillac coming from the other direction had suddenly swerved into their lane, and everything seemed a blur after that. Sarah screaming Toby's name. Toby jerking the wheel to the left wildly. Spinning. The passenger side of the car getting slammed by an eighteen wheeler. Stumbling out of the car through the broken window in his door, with a dislocated shoulder and freely bleeding nose. Watching the car and truck catch fire. Screaming Sarah's name at the unconscious figure in the passenger seat. People holding him back from rushing to the burning vehicle. The fire reaching the fuel tank of the car and exploding, and the truck following shortly after. Screaming and crying until he was hoarse...

Toby gasped and opened his mismatched eyes in surprise toward the cell door, where a guard was jangling a key in a lock.

"Hey, Williams.", the guard said in a friendly voice. The 40-year-old guy, Al, knew Toby well and knew he wasn't a bad kid at heart, just... an extremely sad and confused individual without a clue how to deal with it besides acting out. "You got a visitor." The surprise Toby felt must've shown on his face because Al smiled kindly and said, "He said he thought you might be surprised to hear that. C'mon."

Toby stood numbly, unfeeling as he walked forward. He wasn't surprised when Al didn't bother with the handcuffs. Toby was not a hardened criminal by any stretch of the imagination, and Al knew those shiny bracelets weren't needed. Toby allowed Al to guide him along while Toby sunk back into his depressing thoughts...

Most times, Toby thought what he'd seen seconds before the crash was only a figment of his panicking imagination, but during times like this, when he really found himself in a deep, dark depression, there was a little voice in the back of his head that said_ What if it was real?_ Toby tried to forget it, tried to push it from his mind, and had successfully blocked it from his memory for the most part. But his defenses were weakened when he was this depressed and guilty and sad and angry, and sometimes, it managed to resurface.

Before it could, however, they came to the room where inmates were sitting across from friends or family members or lawyers, separated from each other by a thick, bullet and sound proof pane of glass, and their only way to communicate was a phone built into the wall.

Al gestured to one of the empty ones and said, "Right over there, kiddo. I'll come and get you when your times up." Toby nodded silently, and Al went to stand by the door. Toby made his way slowly toward the little cubicle and peered at the person on the other side of the glass... and froze.

The man, or maybe boy was a better word, on the other side of the glass looked about Toby's age, maybe a little younger. His skin was disturbingly pale and his long, pale, straight blond hair seem to be strategically placed over his ears, as if he didn't want people looking at his ears. He had on a pair of large, dark sunglasses, thought that seemed kind of ridiculous. Not only was he now indoors, but the day was heavily overcast and practically screamed _RAIN!_ He was lounging in the seat as if it were his own personal throne. But... these things were not what really caught Toby's attention... it was the guy's clothes. He was dressed in a black poet's shirt that hung down low in the neck, showing a considerable amount of the flesh of his chest. He wore pair of leather gloves over his hands, hands that were fiddling with a crystal ball. His legs were clad in a pair of criminally tight pants that showed off a lot more of the male anatomy than Toby really wanted to see on another man, and it probably made all the female policeman in the place wish he would commit some heinous crime so that they had a reason to manhandle him a bit. His feet, which he had propped up on the desk in front of him, were covered in a pair of black leather boots that came halfway up his calves. Toby realized he was staring when the strange man looked up and smiled as if Toby were an old friend he hadn't seen for years. Toby quickly averted his eyes and sat down stiffly in the chair across from the stranger.

The man put his feet on the floor, leaned forward, and started talking. Toby couldn't hear a word he was saying, due to the glass, so the stranger looked pretty ridiculous as his mouth moved but no sound could be heard. Toby rolled his eyes and made wild motions with his hands to get the guy to stop talking. Eventually, the guy got the picture and shut up. Toby pointed at the telephone, watching as the man looked at it, then looked at his own. The man pointed at his phone and raised his eyebrows above his sunglasses in what Toby assumed was a questioning gesture. Toby nodded, and he slowly and deliberately picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. The man mimicked Toby's movements and pressed his own receiver to his ear... upside down. Toby let out an exasperated sigh. He turned the phone upside down, like the stranger had it, gave a very adamant shake of his head, and then turned the receiver right side up again, still using those slow, deliberate movements and hoping to make his point.

Thank everything holy and good that the guy got the idea and turned the receiver the right way and looked inquisitively at Toby again.

"You have to talk into the phone, dumbass.", Toby said, not even trying to mask the blatantly obvious annoyance in his voice.

"Of course.", the man replied into the phone, and Toby noted the accent and arrogance in the way he spoke.

Toby studied the man for a few moments more. Several years ago, Sarah had told Toby a story. It began much the same as the rest of them had, but... this had been... different somehow. Tears were constantly leaking out of her eyes as she spoke and her hold on him had been tighter than usual. And usually, before or after a story, she would assure Toby that it wasn't real, that it was all make believe and he had nothing to worry about. Not this time. While she didn't come straight out and say it was all real, Toby didn't think she had to. Toby knew, without really knowing how he knew, that it had really happened. Sarah had wished Toby away to the Goblin King and then won him back, and the king had fallen in love with the girl... and Toby sometimes suspected the girl had somehow managed to fall in love with the king, but Toby never brought it up, because he could tell it hurt Sarah.

But now, here he was, faced with a man who fit the description of the man Sarah had told Toby so much about. Although... this stranger's hair was tame, and he looked at least 10 years younger than the man that had been described to Toby.

"Are... are you the Goblin King?", Toby whispered into the phone.

The stranger smiled patiently as if he was dealing with a small child and replied, "No, no. I am Jareth's younger brother, Coraeon."

Toby raised an eyebrow. "That's a mouthful.", he commented.

The guy stared uncomprehendingly then grinned. "Oh, I understand.", he replied finally. "You cannot pronounce my name. I-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.", Toby interrupted angrily. "I can pronounce your name just find, _Coraeon_. But it's a helluva lot to say for just one word, you've got to have a nickname or something. Something else I can call you."

Coraeon scowled, and then turned thoughtful for several moments. Eventually, he said reluctantly, "You may... call me... Cory."

Toby nodded. "Better. Now, what do you want? Or what does the Goblin King want, I should say."

Cory shook his head. "No, it's all me. In fact, Jareth pointedly told me to not come to you, so naturally, I did the exact opposite of what he asked."

Toby raised an eyebrow. "Playing the annoying younger brother card, huh?"

Cory gave Toby a strange half-smiled that was mostly full of concern and worry, and Toby was suddenly much more interested.

"Partially, I suppose.", was Cory's reply. He rolled his wrist, and the crystal he'd been fiddling with the entire time vanished. "There is, of course, a more... urgent reason."

Toby sighed. "You know, I only have so much time, so you should probably get to the goddamn point so I can go ahead and reject your offer and serve my very lenient time of 24 hours so I can get out of here and end up getting depressed and doing it all over again." Toby's voice was filled with venom, and the acidic anger in his voice grew with every word. Toby was surprised the phone hadn't started melting in his hand yet. And with every word, Cory flinched. On the inside, Toby smiled. He was winning, and he knew Al would give him an extra minute or two so Toby could finish up. And it was also now obvious that Cory was not nearly as arrogant or sure of himself as he'd seemed at first.

Cory nodded quickly and muttered, "O-of c-course, T-Toby.", into the receiver.

Toby snorted. "Yeah, I didn't figure you were as badass as you were acting, although you acted very well, it only took me a few seconds to figure you out.", he replied boredly, his voice drenched in sarcasm.

Cory smiled nervously, and Toby could see the color rising in the man's cheeks. "Jareth was right; you are your sister's brother."

Toby's smile took on a sad look. "Just... just get it over with, man."

Cory must've noticed the sadness, because he nodded and said, "Yes, I'm sorry about Sarah, it nearly tore Jareth apart when he thought she was dead."

Toby noted the past tense Cory used and looked at the man quickly. His gaze hardened. "She's dead, Cory.", he growled. "Don't get my hopes up, don't you _dare _get my hopes up, because I took her death hard enough the first time, and I'm still taking it hard. I don't ever want to hear you or anyone else hint that she's not dead. Do you understand me?" Toby's voice was strong and demanding, and he was sure he saw a flicker of fear and respect on Cory's face... and that was another thing... "And take off those sunglasses, I wanna see your eyes."

The little color that the man had drained. "Toby, that's not-"

"I said, take them off!", Toby hissed into the receiver, glaring at Cory,

Cory obeyed after only a moment's hesitation. An audible gasp escaped from between Toby's lips.

Cory's eyes were jet black. Not just the pupil's or the irises, but entirely black. They reminded Toby strangely of dark, bottomless pits that threatened to swallow some pour, unsuspecting soul's mind and drive them inhumanly insane. Toby felt himself falling into those oubliette eyes, feeling his mind slip away from him, fleeing towards those unearthly orbs... oh, how nice it would feel to just give in...

And then it stopped.

It felt like he was slowly coming out of a dream, groggily pulling himself out of the depths of those dark, bottomless eyes as if they were gripping him and trying to pull him back down. Toby freed himself with quite a lot of effort and was left blinking sleepily at Cory's concerned face in confusion. Cory had put his sunglasses back on, and Toby realized numbly that was why it had all stopped.

Toby weakly picked up the phone he dropped to the desk and asked hoarsely, "What the hell was that?"

"Hypnotism.", Cory replies, then smiled. "Still want to see my eyes, then, mate?" Toby noted a tad bit of arrogance in his voice. He shook his head, and Cory nodded. "Good, now can I-" He stopped and looked over Toby's head just as Al came up behind Toby.

"Time's up. Sorry, kid.", Al apologized sincerely.

"It's all right, Al.", Toby replied, the phone still held up to his face so Cory would be sure to hear. "I was just leaving."

"Toby, wait!" Cory shouted into the phone desperately.

Toby cringed and shouted back, "WHAT!" Toby was rewarded with a cringe from Cory, and he smiled. "Yeah, how do you like it?"

Cory winced. "Not very much, actually. Sorry." He took a deep breath. "Toby, you must listen to me. Sarah isn't dead." When Toby only glared at him in silence, Cory continued. "Toby... I know where she is."

And Toby lost it.

Toby lunged at the glass, slamming his entire body into it, ignoring the surprised shout from Al behind him and the hands that were trying to pull him away and the fact that Cory had jumped back in surprise so fast that he'd fallen over and was now lying on the floor, staring up at Toby in shock.

"SHE'S DEAD!", Toby screeched at the man, clawing and beating desperately at the glass separating them. "MY SISTER IS DEAD, YOU SON OF A BITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME? DEAD! SARAH IS DEAD, AND NOTHING CAN BRING HER BACK! SHE'S DEAD!"

It took five guards to finally pull Toby away from the glass and out the door. He was struggling and kicking as they dragged him all the way back to his cell, and the entire time, Toby was screeching "SHE'S DEAD!" at the top of his lungs over and over again...

**XXBackXInXBlackXX**

Sarah Williams had quite gotten used to the dank chill of this dungeon and the agonized moans and groans of her fellow prisoners in nearby cells. Whenever there was a new prisoner, it'd give Sarah someone to talk to for a few days, but they were all eventually reduced to moaning almost constantly due to whatever torture awaits them in the backroom. Sarah had not experienced anything more agonizing than the occasional whipping, but she could hear the terrifying screams when they'd take one of the prisoners back there, so she knew whatever it was must be more horrible than anything Sarah could ever imagine. Much more horrible than whipping. Sarah had taken to covering her ears when the guards would come and take one of the prisoners back there.

Four years. Four miserable years she'd been here, keeping track of the days with tally marks she'd drawn with a rock on the stone walls of her cell. She knew she had to be on the east side; early in the morning, at sunrise, the sun would shine almost directly into her cell through the barred window high up on the wall, but she sky through the window in the cell across from hers would still be dark. So, she knew when the day began and when it ended, and she had been diligently keeping count for the last four years.

Sarah had absolutely no memory of what had happened in between the car crash and when she'd woken up groggily over the shoulder of a very large man (at least, she thought it was a man) who'd carried her through a series of tunnels and had eventually thrown her unceremoniously in this very cell four years ago. Heck, she barely even remembered the crash itself. Then again, she tried not to think about it because it only made her want to cry, and showing weakness was the last thing she wanted to do in this dark place.

Right now, it was nighttime outside the... wherever she was. Sarah always felt the saddest at night, lamenting the absence of the stars she used to watch religiously every night, especially with her little brother. She missed the unknown words of the secret conversations the heavens held so much, but even more than the stars, she missed Toby. He probably thought she was dead, they all probably thought she was dead, and she felt guilty for it. Perhaps that guilt was a little irrational, but she didn't really care. She was alive, and everyone thought she'd died in the car crash, so she felt guilty.

But Sarah refused to dwell on that and she focused on trying to sleep on her thin mat of hay that was her bed in her comfy little cell, trying to ignore the moaning of the tortured and dying men and women around her.

Sarah sat bolt upright as the reinforced steel door at the entrance of the dungeon swung open with a loud _CLANG!_ She heard the shuffling of feet, and the grunting, growling, and struggling of whatever new doomed soul they were bringing in here to rot away. Perhaps it was a little selfish, but Sarah crossed her fingers and prayed that he or she would be placed somewhere nearby. She was desperate for someone to talk to, there hadn't been anyone knew that she could talk to in several months now. She listened carefully as the noises came closer, and she could hear that whoever they were bringing in was cursing his captors and making fun of them. Sarah allowed herself a small smile as she caught the words "those disgusting ugly mugs of yours" come from him.

The thick steel bars that made up the door to Sarah's cell were less than an inch apart, and the only light in that dungeon came from the torches burning in between each cell. Very little of the light from those torches made its way into the cell so that you could only make out dark shapes in the gloom and nothing else. Sarah would not be able to see whoever it was from her place in the corner farthest from the door, and she knew better than to try and peer out between the bars. The first couple of times they'd brought in new prisoners, she'd done that, and the guard had hefted his whip and lashed her across the face. So, she'd learned not to be too curious. She waited, listening for the noise of one of the other cell doors opening or for the footsteps to stop, but they just kept coming closer. They didn't stop until they were right outside Sarah's door. Sarah couldn't believe her luck. The new prisoner, right across from her. Someone she could talk to, at least for a time.

Sarah jumped violently in surprise at the sound of a key turning into the lock of her cell door. Her heart leapt into her throat. They were putting him in here? That had never happened before, she'd always been left here alone without any cell mates. Until they decided to whip her every once in a while, she would often begin to wonder if they'd simply forgotten about her. Perhaps they finally had and were throwing someone in here because they thought it was empty?

Sarah couldn't really see what was going on due to the meager light, but she heard the cell door open and could make out two large, dark masses that must've been guards supporting a smaller mass between them. Sarah heard grunting coming from the dark shapes, and then a thud sounded somewhere very close by as the new prisoner was shoved into the cell. The poor man groaned in pain. And then, another first, one of the huge, dark shapes of the guards turned toward Sarah and spoke.

"You two are gonna have lotsa fun in here together, girlie.", the guard rasped, and then him and his big friend laughed gutturally. Sarah could still hear them laughing as they left the dungeon.

Sarah listened closely as her new cellmate struggled against whatever bonds were restraining him. When the guards didn't come back after a few minutes, Sarah let out a breath and scrambled toward the prisoner.

"Stop squirming!", she hissed down at him. The man gave a small sound of surprise and obeyed. Sarah put out her hands and came in contact with flesh. Flesh that was riddled with wet little grooves. Sarah brought her wet fingers up to her nose and sniffed. Blood. "They whipped you?", Sarah whispered.

The man grunted and said something, but it was muffled. Sarah let her finger's travel up the man's back to his head, but his head was covered with something rough and flexible. A sack.

"Don't speak, not yet.", Sarah whispered. "As soon as I treat your back, I'll get you free of whatever's restraining you." The man grunted again, and Sarah assumed that meant he understood.

Sarah had befriended the elderly woman, Eloen, who brought the prisoners their daily rations of food a couple of months after she'd first been brought here, and the woman often brought her extra food and water, and sometimes an extra shirt or two when Sarah would get whipped, right under the noses of the guards. She also slipped Sarah healing and pain relieving salves for when she was whipped as well as some sort of potion or something that helped her to sleep. There were other small things, too, but these were the most frequent. The guards that whipped her never asked how her wounds healed so fast or how she managed to have a shirt that isn't torn and bloodied every time they'd bring out the whip for her. Sarah guessed that they were far too stupid to realize. Sarah had dug out an already loose stone out of the floor and hollowed out a good bit of the space beneath it to hide the excess supplies there. Now, she removed the stone, reached in, and felt around for a few moments before pulling out a small container, not unlike the containers of Vaseline in her world. She went back in and grabbed a similar container. One contained the pain relieving salve and the other contained the healing salve. She reached her hand into the hole one more time and came back out with a small vial of the dreamless sleep drink and one of the spare shirts with a canteen of water wrapped up in it. The shirt was a little dusty, but it was better than a shirt with absolutely no back coming in contact with the grimy surfaces of the dungeon. All the supplies she needed now in hand, Sarah moved back over the man.

Sarah left the bonds on so that the man wouldn't lash out suddenly from pain. First, she opened the canteen and gently poured the cool water over his back. There was a low hiss then a sigh from the man, and Sarah used the remains of the man's shirt to wipe the wounds gently. Next, Sarah applied the pain relieving salve on the man's back. Almost instantly, the stranger let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. Sarah rubbed the salved gently over his entire back, then placed the lid back on the container and started with the healing salve. This had to be applied deep into the wound to be completely effective, and that was why Sarah had applied the pain reliever first. The man still flinched slightly, but it wasn't the agonized screams that would've been the result if she had not applied the pain reliever first. This was just as well. She didn't want any of the guards hearing and coming to investigate.

When Sarah was done, she felt around until she found the man's feet bound together. She studied the knot with her hands, adept at seeing things with her hands after all these years in the dark, and she carefully untied the knot. She did the same with the man's hands, which had been bound behind his back, and the man let out a grateful sigh. He groaned as he struggled to sit up, but Sarah pushed him back down.

"Lay down, you need to rest.", she ordered softly. She thought maybe she heard a soft laugh from under the sack, but he obeyed her. She reached up and removed the bag from his head.

The man took the shirt she offered and allowed her to help him pull it over his head and slip his arms through the sleeves.

"Thank you so m-", the man started, but he stopped mid-sentence. She could tell something had surprised him, and the silence stretched on until the man finally whispered, "Sarah."

The stranger's accented voice was painfully familiar to Sarah, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She hesitated, wondering how the stranger knew her name, or even how he could find anything in this dark to place her name with, but she didn't dwell on it. She felt around in the gloom, found the vial of sleeping potion, picked it up, popped the top, and held it up to the stranger's lips.

"Take this.", she whispered. "Drink. It'll help you sleep without any dreams." The stranger hesitated for a few moments before reaching up and moving her hand so that the vial tilted further and the liquid poured into his mouth. Sarah made him drink the rest of the water that was in the canteen, and then sat back.

The man reached out a hand and she felt it touch her face lightly. "Sarah...", he whispered, then his hand dropped as the potion took effect and he drifted off. But Sarah had already figured out who it was. She reached out tentatively and brushed her hands through his long, feathery hair.

"Why did you come here?", she sighed, running her hands down his scarred back. "Oh, Jareth."

* * *

Yes, that's right people, LP is BACK and, I hope, better than ever. Some real life stuff kinda got in the way there for a long time, and I was unable to find inspiration for a while. But I am back, baby, yeah! This story will be quite a bit darker than my other ones, but there will be humor, never fear. Jareth and Sarah are locked up in a cell together, how can they _not _get on each other's nerves? Cause it really isn't a Labyrinth fan fiction if Jareth and Sarah don't annoy the snot out of one another at least twice, it really isn't. And don't worry too much about Toby, either, I'll set him straight eventually. And, of course, a huge thanks to my beta, **FireChildSlytherin5**, who should be worshipped, yo!

So, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1, and uh... pleeeeeease review and tell me what you think? *cue big, watery puppy dog eyes of dooooom*


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER! **Oh yeah, suuuuuure. Of COURSE I own Labyrinth. Jim Henson is mah lover :| [/end sarcasm] lol

**WARNING!** I did not say it at the beginning of Chapter 1, so I will say it now: If you're not into strong language, I would not suggest reading this. The language gets a little hairy the further we get into the story.

**Chapter 2**

_Jareth turned suddenly as he sensed that he was not alone on the lonely, barren hill overlooking his kingdom. His eyes roamed over the land, but he saw no one with his eyes. So, he closed them, breathed in deeply... then opened his eyes, turned quickly, and yelled, "Boo!"_

_Coraeon yelled in surprise and jumped back about a foot in the air, but the woman who'd been standing next to him simply smirked and snorted with laughter as she watched in amusement as her younger brother freaked out. She was very nearly as tall as Jareth, and looking at her, you could tell they were twins. She looked about his age with very similar facial features, pale blond hair, and mismatched eyes._

_"Coraeon, you moron, I told you he always knows.", she scolded Coraeon, who was now lying on the ground, glaring up at Jareth._

_"Oh, shut it, Vic.", Coraeon growled, then scrambled to his feet._

_Victoria and Jareth laughed, and Coraeon muttered something about over abusive siblings, which only made said siblings laugh harder._

_Jareth was the first to sober up, and he looked at his brother and sister seriously. "Go back to the castle, this is not the time to play 'spy on the sibling'."_

_Vic snapped her fingers, grinned, and said, "Oh yeah. That's why we were following you. We want to know where you were going. Thanks for reminding me, brother." She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Jareth. "So where are you going?"_

_Jareth rolled his eyes. "Vic, Coraeon, it really isn't any of your business.", he replied, a little annoyance creeping into his voice._

_Coraeon raised an eyebrow. "Jareth, in your absence, I have to take your place. If you're going to be gone for a while, pretty sure that makes it my business."_

_It was Vic's turn to raise an eyebrow at her younger brother. "Wow, Coraeon, that actually made sense. Congratulations."_

_Coraeon rolled his eyes and made a face at Vic. "Oh, hardy har har.", he replied sarcastically._

_Jareth sighed. "Look, I don't know how long I'm going to be gone, but... I'm going to the Cliffs."_

_A stunned silence fell over them. A warm breeze picked up and tossed their hair, and at the base of the hill, three goblins were having a pissing contest._

_Finally, Coraeon broke the silence. "You're going to find Sarah, aren't you?"_

_Before Jareth could answer, Vic looked at her twin in alarm. "You're going on a rescue mission to the **Cliffs**? **Alone**?_

_Jareth looked at her in silence for a few moments before responding simply, "Yes."_

_Vic reached up, grabbed a handful of his ridiculously poofy hair, and pulled down so that he had to bend over almost double._

_"Jareth, you are a moron, and I'm coming with you to rescue your girlfriend.", she growled while Coraeon snickered._

_"Ow!", Jareth protested in pain. "That hurts, Vic!"_

_"Good!", Vic replied forcefully and pulled on her twin's pale blond hair harder._

_"Owww! Okay, you can come!", Jareth yelled, cringed as his twin sister ruined his perfectly poofy hair. Vic let him go, a triumphant light gleaming in her eyes._

_Coraeon instantly rebelled. "Hey, what about me? I wanna go too!"_

_Jareth shook his head. "Someone has to keep watch over my kingdom, and we all know you're the best for the job.", he replied reasonably. "Besides, two of us can get in easier than three. And one can get in easier than two, but... if something happens to one of us, the other will be there to know.", Jareth grinned and ruffled his little brother's hair. "We'll be back before you know it, kiddo."_

_"You better.", Coraeon grumbled._

_Vic grinned. "Don't worry about us, Coraeon, we're very good."_

_Coraeon snorted. "You? Who's worried about you? When Mum finds out, it's my ass who going to have to face her wrath, that's a helluva lot scary than any Cliffs."_

_Jareth grinned at his little brother. "True facts, little brother." He shielded his eyes and looked up at the rapiduly sinking Sun. "If you're going to come along, Vic, we'd better leave."_

_Vic nodded. "You're right, Jareth." She hugged Coraeon, who hugged her back fiercely, then she stepped back. Jareth ruffled Coraeon's hair again then pulled him into a rough (and, they would like to point out, very manly and brotherly) hug. Coraeon laughed and pushed away from him, and Jareth laughed, too._

_"Get on with you, both of you.", Coraeon demanded, waving his hands in a dismissing gesture._

_Jareth summoned a crystal and spoke one word. The crystal flashed a brilliant white, then went back to normal, except for a soft humming that was barely audible, even for the finely tuned senses of those present. Jareth held out the crystal to Vic, who pressed two fingers to its surface and closed her eyes. Slowly, they began to fade away._

_Jareth thought of something at last minute and looked up quickly at his little brother who, along with his surrounding, were fading into darkness._

_"Whatever you do, don't go to the boy!", he shouted, his voice sounding distant and echoing from Coraeon's end. "It's the last thing he needs, and it'll only put him in danger!" And then they were gone, and Coraeon was left nodding in understanding to a goblin about 5 feet shorter than his brother, who was giggling quite happily with his hand caught in a mouse trap..._

Coraeon sat up in the bed in his hotel room with a gasp. Gods, he felt guilty about all that, he knew he should've gone with them despite all the reasonable arguments to the contrary. It had been two months, two bloody months since they'd gone, and not a word from either of them. Coraeon assumed they'd both been captured, or worse... Coraeon shuddered and shook his violently. No, he would not believe that. He really didn't want to think about anything worse. He'd already wasted enough time yesterday. Most of it had been spent figuring out what these Abovegrounders used for money. Ha! Money... nothing more than little pieces of paper and coins that weren't even made out of gold, or silver at the very least. Silly little mortals... oh well. And when he'd finally figured out a spell that would make this ridiculous form of currency for him, he had to find a place to stay, and this place had quite obviously had a reputation for being the cheapest, classiest hotel in town. The cardboard sign in the crud-covered window out front had stated this clearly. And, as a matter of fact, it had not cost very much at all to get their very best room.

However, Coraeon was pretty sure this hotel housed quite a few more cockroaches and other vermin than it did class.

Coraeon brushed a couple of the disgusting, six-legged creatures that were currently mating off of his right knee to the floor. He grabbed one of his new shoes and crushed the love bugs underneath it. He sighed, a simple enough sound that conveyed just how much misery he was currently wallowing in... which was quite a lot, by the way. He desperately needed a guide around this strange human world. Silly humans, obviously didn't know the meaning of class. Why, if this was considered class to the lowly peasants, Coraeon couldn't help but wonder what they're leader must go through. Coraeon imagined it couldn't be much better... perhaps their leader's bed did not smell like old goblin urine and did not contain bed bugs, as Coraeon's did? And the rats... weren't _quite_ as big as the one that just scampered across the floor?

Coraeon swung his feet, over the side of the bed, slipped his feet inside his new shoes... and heard a sickening crunch come from within. Something wet and gooey coated the toes of his left foot, and already the slimy substance was making its way in between his toes. Coraeon felt like he was going to be sick. He carefully eased his foot out of his shoe, and just as he'd suspected, his toes were covered in roach guts. He even spied a couple of the legs and pieces of the wings stuck in the goo. Coraeon waved a hand and the gunk vanished. He eased his foot back into the shoe and was glad to feel no other creepy crawlers waiting for him. Likewise, as he put on the other shoe. Finally, he stood.

If his naivety of the human world was amusing, then his attire was positively hilarious. They _were_ more comfortable than the Goblin Kingly clothes that he'd raided Jareth's wardrobe for, which had been essential to his meeting with Toby (why, he was not sure, but he was sure the clothes of a Goblin King had helped his mission... though, considering it... hadn't gone very well, he was now starting to regret the clothes...). But... well, they really weren't much better. He was dressed in a pair of black shoes, with red shoelaces and large red check mark adorning the sides of each. His legs were clad in a pair of fleece pajama pants that were decorated with cartoons of dogs and words such as "RUFF" and "WOOF", and he had on a shirt that was several sizes too big for him that said "I'm with Stupid." Really, they were the most comfortable clothing Coraeon had ever worn in his life. He wondered why the folks in the Underground wore nothing like this.

Sighing again, Coraeon made his way into the laboratory and lifted the lid of the toilet. Good, nothing else had crawled in there and died, as he'd witnessed in absolute horror last night. Coraeon did his business and spent the next five minutes playing with the little lever that caused the water in the bowl to swirl down the hole at the bottom and then instantly refill. It really was quite fascinating, Coraeon wondered why the water wasn't constantly swirling down the hole and where it went when it did. He'd have to ask Jareth...

Jareth...

Oh yeah right. Coraeon stopped playing with the toilet instantly and started making his way out of the hotel room, past the cracking paint and plaster on the walls, and down the stairs to the front room, where he'd purchased his cheap-but-decidedly-_un_classy hotel room from the large woman the night before. Once there, he nodded his head in thanks to the aforementioned large woman behind the counter. She took one look at him and started laughing so hard that all of the excess fat on her body jiggled grotesquely. This confused Coraeon slightly. He could not understand what about his appearance was amusing, but he shrugged it off. He was on a mission. He had to make Toby see reason.

And moments after Coraeon walked through the door and out on the busy city street in downtown Chicago... the screams started.

Coraeon turned, alarmed, in unison with those around him towards the screaming. He couldn't see what was going on, there were too many people in the way, and he was not a very tall person by any stretch of the imagination. However, it didn't take long to figure out, since a sweaty young man, breathing heavily, suddenly barreled through the crowd and into Coraeon, sending them both sprawling.

"Geroffmee!", Coraeon yelled, struggling to get the human off of him.

The other man stopped moving suddenly, and Coraeon looked up into a pair of shocked, mismatched eyes.

"You!", Toby Williams shouted angrily.

"You.", Coraeon sighed in a mixture of surprise and relief.

Toby stood quickly and left Coraeon to scramble to his feet without so much as a helping hand.

"What the hell are you-", Toby started to demand, but he was cut off by a vicious, deafening roar from behind him. Toby spun quickly, and Coraeon peered over Toby's shoulder to see what had been chasing the other man... and caught his breath. The two creatures were the size of a bear, though they looked more like rabid Great Danes on steroids. Something about the look of the creatures... didn't sit well. They were covered it dark brown, maybe black, fur, and the talons on each of their toes were long and looked razor sharp. But it wasn't that. The appearance creatures' eyes were almost... human. Though, while they appeared human, the way they were glaring at Toby and Coraeon hungrily, Coraeon knew that these were wild, vicious animals without enough of an intelligent thought to throw a pebble at.

It had to be the work of Mordrin.

"So they know.", Coraeon breathed softly.

The humans were screaming in panic and running as fast as they could away from the beasts, except Toby, who glanced at Coraeon inquisitively. "Who-"

"Look out!", Coraeon shouted as one of the creatures lunged at Toby. Coraeon grabbed Toby's jacket and jerked the man out of the way just in time. The creature skidded to a stop behind them, and there was now one creature on each side of the young men. Coraeon summoned a crystal and mumbled under his breath quickly as the creatures circled them, sniffing at the air and observing them. The surface of the crystal started to swirl in his hand quickly as if it were liquid mercury, and then it began to morph. It grew longer and stopped at a sharp point, and the part that Coraeon still had a hold of had morped into a hilt.

Toby's eyes widened and he murmured in awe, "Holy shit, is that a sword? A freakin' crystal sword?"

Coraeon grinned at him. "That it is.", was his proud answer, and held the crystal sword out to Toby. Toby took it gingerly, as if afraid it might break simply by holding it in his hands. Coraeon's grin widened. "The crystal is the strongest substance in the worlds, stronger than steel, stronger than diamond. It will not break." Toby tightened his grip on the handle, set his jaw, and turned toward the menacing creature closest to him.

Coraeon turned to the creature closest to him so that he and Toby were back to back. Coraeon much preferred archery. And since his weapon already existed, all he had to do was snap his fingers and a crystal bow appeared in his left hand. He snapped them again and a quiver of 24 crystalline arrows appeared on his back. He drew one of the arrows and nocked it at the ready. The creatures finally stopped their circling and sniffing and pawed the ground savagely with their forepaws, not unlike that of a bull getting ready to charge.

"Make them rear up on their hind legs.", Coraeon whispered out of the side of his mouth. "Then aim for the heart."

Toby merely grunted in response. Coraeon assumed that meant he understood.

And then, simultaneously and without warning... the creatures charged.

Coraeon raised the bow, aimed, and fired all in less than a second. The moment the arrow was on its way, Coraeon had another one ready. His aim was true, and the arrow plunged into the creature's disturbing eye. The creature reared back onto its hind legs, roaring in pain and anger, and Coraeon fired again. Again, his aim was spot on. The arrow pierced the animal's heart. There was an explosion of bright light and Coraeon had to shield his eyes. When he looked again, the creature was gone and in its place was a perfectly round crystal, lying innocently on the ground. Coraeon picked it up, stuff into one of the deep pockets of his fleece trousers, turned around... and gaped.

Three more of the creatures had appeared out of no where and surrounded young Toby. And Toby wasn't dead yet, either. In fact, there were already a couple of crystals lying on the ground, unmoving. Coraeon had to admit, he was impressed. Toby was a blur, thrusting and parrying the swipes of the animals' deadly talons like he'd been doing it all his life. And Coraeon suddenly knew why Jareth had instructed him not to see Toby. Coraeon had led the creatures to this young warrior. Coraeon had put Toby in grave danger.

Coraeon cursed under his breath and raised his bow. He nocked an arrow, aimed, and fired all in one fluid motion, and hit one of the creatures in the throat. The creature roared in anger and reared up. Toby stepped expertly into position and thrust the crystal sword into the creature's heart. But this one did not explode with white light, it merely writhed in pain for several seconds before disappearing. Coraeon briefly wondered why. This one had been smaller than the other; perhaps only the larger ones exploded, reverting back to their pure magic form? Coraeon fired two more arrows in quick succession, hitting one in the eye and the other in the middle of its forehead. Both reared onto their hind legs. Toby got one, and Coraeon nailed the other. The one Toby finished off merely disappeared, but Coraeon's exploded into pure magic light, which startled both Toby and the creature he'd turned to.

Coraeon hurriedly shot the last, stunned creature in the neck. The creature, which was much larger than the others, roared and turned toward Coraeon, but didn't rear up. Coraeon swore, then shouted out in alarm and warning as Toby started running toward the creature. The creature didn't notice, its attention was trained solely on Coraeon, the person who'd injured it. Usually, Coraeon would classify this as a "bad" thing, but under the circumstances, it probably saved Toby's life, so Coraeon decided he would classify this as a "good when you look at the big picture" thing.

Toby leaped and landed on the creature's furry back. The creature stumbled backwards, and Toby almost fell off. But Toby dug his fingers into the creature's fur and stayed on. He climbed toward the creature's neck as the creature tossed its head several times, trying to see what was crawling up his back. They were big and fierce, but obviously not very bright. Toby yanked on the fur at the top of the creature's head, pulling the head back and making the creature roar in anger and frustration and finally rear onto its hind feet. Toby was clinging to the fur for dear life. Coraeon just stared, open mouthed.

"Shoot it, Cory, dammit!", Toby shouted in a strained voice.

Coraeon snapped out of his daze by cringing automatically at the nickname. Gods, he hated that nickname. Coraeon drew an arrow from the quiver, nocked it, pulled back the string until he touched his earlobe, and fired in the same fluid motion as before. And again, his aim was dangerously close to perfect. The crystal arrow pierced the creature's heart. But Coraeon didn't celebrate. In fact, he damn near panicked. Because that thing was about to turn into pure magic, and Toby was still clinging to its back. Men, _Fae_, had been turned to ashes just by standing too close to creatures like that. Coraeon didn't know what would happen if a person was _riding_ the damn thing.

"Toby, get-", Coraeon started to shout, but it was too late. Coraeon turned away just in time as the creature exploded silently into pure magic light, just as the others had. After a few moments, Coraeon judged it safe to look again. However, the moment he turned, he cried out in agony; the creature was still lit up like a Christmas tree. Coraeon looked away again, but he knew he would not be able to see properly for at least the rest of the day. He dug the sunglasses he hadn't needed all day and put them on. Not only would it keep people from looking at him strange while he walked around with his eyes closed, but if his eyes were open... well, there was no way he would know if someone were looking him in the eye, and this would prevent any... ahem... _accidents_.

"Toby?", Coraeon called out. There was silence for an entire minute and Coraeon felt hysteric panic begin to rise in his chest. "Toby?", he called out again, a little louder this time and more than a little edge to his voice.

This time, Coraeon felt relief wash over him as he heard some coughing and a familiar voice shout, "Here!"

"Toby!", Coraeon cried out with joy, resisting the urge to jump and down like a small child on Christmas morning. "Toby, keep talking! I can't see, I'll have to find you by your voice!" There was a scrambling noise and then footsteps coming closer.

Searing hot hands felt Coraeon's face, and Toby's amused voice came from right in front of him. "Why would you have to find me, dude? I'm right here."

"You... you can walk?", Coraeon breathed in awe and bewilderment. "Good gods, after _that_?"

Coraeon could hear the grin in Toby's voice as he replied, "Well... I'm not completely unscathed... man, I wish you could see this."

It couldn't have been too bad, Toby actually sounded quite please with himself.

"Yeah, I wish I could see it too.", Coraeon grumbled bitterly. "And why are your hands so bloody hot?"

"Hummm.", Toby mumbled thoughtfully. "I wonder if I can..." Coraeon felt Toby's warm hand begin to take off his sunglasses.

"Don't look directly into my eyes!", Coraeon hissed in warning.

"Right, right.", Toby mumbled absentmindedly. A few moments passed in silence before Toby spoke again. "I got it. I'll wear the sunglasses, at least for a few moments."

Coraeon nodded. Toby took the sunglasses off, and a few moments later, Toby said, "Now, open your eyes."

Coraeon nodded and obeyed... then almost immediately cried out in pain as a pair of searing hot thumbs pressed into his eyeballs. Tears began running freely down his face, and he heard Toby swear as if from a long way off.

The pain finally stopped, and Coraeon's knees grew weak. His legs crumpled under him and he slid to the ground in a slumped over sitting position.

Toby swore again and knelt down beside him. "Oh god, Cory, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Wait.", Coraeon interrupted. He blinked open his eyes cautiously. It was as if an incredibly bright light had been thrust in front of his face and then removed, leaving bright, colorful spots dancing in front of his eyes. But behind the spots, Coraeon could make out shapes.

And the shape beside him appeared to be... glowing?

"Toby.", Coraeon said tentatively. "Are you... glowing?"

"Yup, like a star.", Toby replied, and from the tone of his voice, Coraeon could tell he was grinning again. "I'm a star, haha."

"Oh, great.", Coraeon grumbled under his breath. He summoned a crystal and threw it in Toby's general direction. Toby cried out in surprise momentarily, then went silent.

"What'd you do?", Toby asked after a few moments.

"You still look the same to you and me.", Coraeoned replied. "But to everyone else, they will not see you glowing. Thank the gods."

"Oh...", Toby replied. Another few moments passed by in silence, then Toby asked, "How's your sight?"

"Returning about as slow as it takes a giant glacier to make its way across an ocean.", Coraeon replied grumpily. "But I can see shapes now, thanks to you. I may even have my vision back to normal by late afternoon. Thank you, Toby."

"No sweat.", Toby replied, his tone amused. He handed Coraeon's sunglasses back, and Coraeon put them on.

The shapes were slowly sharpening into focus, but what he could make out clearer than the shapes behind those colorful spots were the sirens, far off but getting closer.

"Oh shit.", Coraeon heard Toby mutter.

"What is that?", Coraeon asked.

"The police.", came Toby's answer. He put a hand under one of Coraeon's arms. "They find us here, they'll probably lock us up."

"You mean like you were?", Coraeon asked innocently, allowing Toby to help him to his feet.

Toby sighed, sounding a little annoyed. "Yes, Cory, like I was."

"Well, we don't have time for that, then.", Coraeon stated in a matter of fact voice. He waved a hand and murmured a word. He knew that the crystals trapping those... things were now gone, except the one he'd stuffed in his pocket earlier. Later, he would have to investigate why some were trapped in the crystals and others merely disappeared. Then, Coraeon took a step forward, but he still had not regained full of control of the gelatinic substance that had obviously taken the place of the muscles in his legs. He stumbled and almost fell again, but Toby's warm hands grabbed him and kept him steady. Toby draped one of Coraeon's arms over his neck and helped him along. After they got a couple of blocks away, Coraeon was able to walk normally again, although he still kept a firm grip on Toby's jacket so that he wouldn't run into anything. He motioned for Toby to stop, and then summoned a crystal. He murmured under his breath, and a soft green light glowed deep within its depths. Coraeon threw the crystal to the ground. It shattered and the ground instantly started rumbling violently.

"What the hell?", Toby shouted as both he and Coraeon lost their balance and fell over.

"It'll be felt for miles around!", Coraeon shouted over the noise. "When it stops, everyone who may have witnessed what happened will forget and go about their business as if nothing happened. Even the cops will not remember why they are currently speeding toward this part of town."

The rumbling slowed to a stop. The two men got to their feet. Coraeon blinked several times and realized his sight was much better. The edges of objects were still incredibly blurry, but at least he wouldn't run into anything and didn't have to rely entirely on Toby's guidance.

"That's actually... pretty cool, Cory.", Toby said, his voice a mixture of surprise and awe.

Coraeon swelled with pride. "I'm not totally incompetent, you know.", he informed Toby, a little pompously.

Toby snorted in amusement. "All right, all right. Don't go thinking you're your big brother now.", he replied, then sighed. "But I admit, I was wrong about you. I thought you were just some bookworm who kept his nose thrust in thick, dusty books all day and you were trying to act all badass or something. But... I mean, your skill with that bow... that was wicked, man." Coraeon could tell by the way he spoke that Toby grinned. "You've got some pretty cool tricks up your sleeve."

Coraeon decided to _not_ tell him that he _did_ spend most of his time holed up in the library in his brother's castle, surrounded by stacks of books so high, you couldn't see over them. Not even if you stood on the tips of your toes.

"So.", Toby said, and Coraeon could make out the movement of his head as he looked around. "What do we do now?"

"Well, as soon as I get my sight back, I am going home.", Coraeon replied, resigned to the fact that Toby did not believe a word he said about Sarah.

"Now, wait a second, if those things are going to come back after me, I think I'd rather come with you, even if you are delusional.", Toby argued. Coraeon hesitated. "Are those things going to come back?"

Coraeon was quiet, even though he knew the answer. Eventually he replied slowly, "More than likely." He sighed. "All right, we'll stick together. I'll need someone to make sure I don't bump into anyone until I get my vision back. My peripheral vision especially is nothing to be desired at the moment."

Coraeon could hear the triumph in Toby's voice as he replied, "All right, Cory. What do we do first?"

"Breakfast.", Coraeon replied with conviction and a firm nod. "I"m starving."

Toby laughed. "All right. Can you see all right enough to walk on your own?" Coraeon nodded. "Okay. There's a great diner a couple of blocks away." Toby started off down the street. "Let's go, Helen Keller."

Coraeon hurried to keep up with the taller man's longer stride. He looked at Toby in confusion. "Who?"

Toby laughed again. "Forget it, Cory. Let's go." And they set off down the street.

**XXBackXInXBlackXX**

Victoria fumed in the small, abandoned chamber deep within the bowels of the Cliffs. The place smelled of mildew and sewage and other things, rotting things, _dead_ things that Vic decided she would rather not have identified for her. Nearby, she could hear the soft trickle of water over rocks, and somewhere far off in the distance, echoing through the complex network of tunnels that made up Mordrin's fortress within the Cliffs, Vic could hear the agonized screams of a man being tortured to within an inch of insanity. Off to the side was a large, smoldering hole in the wall where Vic had taken out her anger with plenty of crystals enchanted to explode upon impact. And it didn't matter that it was pitch black, the magical blood coursing through Vic's veins allowed her to see in the dark. Right now, though, anyone looking at her would wonder why her skin wasn't alight with flames from the rage in her eyes and rigid anger in her stature.

Because Vic was pissed. Pissed at both herself and Jareth and Sarah and the rat that just crawled across her foot and a lot of other things that were jumbled and incoherent, both in her head and in the torrent of heated muttering firing rapidly from in between the woman's lips.

Stupid. How could they have been so stupid to think they could simply glamor themselves and waltz right in? Really, they had to have known that the entire fortress was stifled with enchantments in order to strip others of their enchantments and catch intruders. Sure, it had been over five hundred years since they'd last faced him and thought they'd destroyed him. Sure, they knew he wasn't quite at his full power yet. It didn't matter, he was a powerful son of a bitch (literally) and they should've known that even in his weak state, he would be powerful enough to secure at least most of his entire fortress.

Thankfully, Victoria had found a room in the Cliffs that was free of any of Mordrin's enchantments, and she didn't care if a legion of these creatures of Mordrin's came marching down here to get her after all that noise and rumbling she'd made. She would've done something far more rash that would've gotten everyone in trouble had she not taken out her anger on the poor wall. Slowly, Vic's anger ebbed away, and an immense sense of guilt took its place. Perhaps it wasn't entirely her fault, they had both overlooked things, but it was Jareth whose emotions were all over the place. The man, if he could rightly be classified as a man (Vic still wasn't sure what the hell Mordrin was), who'd killed the first woman that Jareth had ever really loved now had the second woman he'd ever really loved kidnapped to mess with his head, and Vic should've been looking out for him. She just hadn't kept a close enough eye on the poor man. She glowered at the ground, feeling beaten. She had no plan, no way to get him out... no way to get _herself_ out without being spotted... she was stuck.

Vic's head snapped up quickly in the direction of the old, wooden door. She could hear footsteps coming down the narrow tunnel outside, but it was not the heavy, booted footsteps of the creatures that safe-guarded Mordrin's fortress. No, these footsteps were light and shuffling down the tunnel, as if they were having trouble picking up their feet all the way off the floor. The shuffling footsteps were accompanied by the mutterings of what sounded like an elderly woman. Vic stayed still, waiting for the footsteps to pass the door, but after a few minutes, the footsteps stopped right outside the room.

Vic heard the sound of a key being jangled in a lock, and then an older woman's voice swore and muttered, "I could've sworn I locked this door." And then, the door opened.

Light from a glowing orb poured through the doorway and fell on the classic "deer in the headlights" expression on Vic's face. The two women, one old and one young, stared at each other in shocked silence for a full minute. Then, suddenly and simultaneously, Vic summoned a crystal and the elderly woman drew a small, square packet from a pocket in her heavily stained cloth apron.

"Who are you?", Vic demanded, watching the small package warily.

"Who are you?", the woman bit back, eyeing the crystal as if it were a poisonous snake about to strike. Which, now that Vic thought about it, wasn't a bad idea.

"I asked you first.", Vic pointed out.

"I asked you second.", the old woman retorted stubbornly.

Vic eyed her for a moment before replying stiffly, "My name is Victoria. No, who are you, old woman?"

The elderly woman scowled. "I am Eloen. I bring the food to the prisoner's in the dungeon." Eloen held up her lighted orb as high as she could and gestured around the room. Vic looked. There were crates upon crates of supplies in the room that Vic had not noticed before during her angry tirade. "If you are looking to steal from me, I must warn you, I am not quite as helpless as I seem." She shook the little packet in her hand to emphasize her point.

Vic's eye never left the little packet in Eloen's hand.

"I have no doubt that you can handle yourself in a duel, Crone.", Vic answered, her voice laced with bitter venom. "And while I'm not here to steal, I'm afraid you know that I'm here, and I must dispose of you, lest you tell your master I am here." Vic murmured under her breath and the crystal flashed red for a moment before settling down to its usual state. Vic raised the crystal even as Eloen raised her packet. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Eloen raised an eyebrow. "You assume quite a lot for someone who's only known me for a short time. Why don't you try asking questions rather than making false accusations?"

Vic's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And just what about what I've said is false, grandma?"

Eloen sighed. "Well, first, I am most certainly not your grandmother.", she replied, knowing that Vic had not meant that literally and taking pleasure in pissing Vic off just a little more.

"Second.", Eloen continued. "I am not loyal to Mordrin, and finally, I am the only reason that the Lady Sarah has lived this long. So, if you must kill me, know that you are only hurting Lady Sarah... and your brother."

Vic hesitated, unsure how to react to this. She searched the woman's eyes and face and posture, but could find no evidence of a lie. However, the story just seemed so damned far fetched that Vic had trouble believing it.

"If I find out you're lying to me-", she started to warn, but Eloen cut her off.

"You won't.", the older woman assured firmly.

Vic hesitated, then rolled her wrist and the crystal vanished.

"All right.", she agreed, backing down. "But I'll need your help."

Eloen nodded, a smile breaking across her ancient face and showing off her teeth, or lack thereof. Several of her chompers were missing, and those that remained were either chipped or rotting away.

"I'd be happy to help.", she replied in her ancient, gravelly voice. "Getting out of this rotting cesspool sounds like one helluva good career move."

Vic snorted with laughter, despite her lingering doubts. "Well, if you help me out, I can guarantee you I will do everything within my power to get you out with us. You have my word."

Eloen nodded and moved over to the crates and started rummaging through them. "I thought you would promise something like that, though I'm not so sure I trust you enough quite yet to take that promise seriously. "Vic opened her mouth to protest, but Eloen held up a hand to silence her. "But... the Lady Sarah promised me the same thing, and her... now her I trust." Eloen nodded and continued her rummaging.

_Well_, Vic thought. _At least Sarah is good for something other than making trouble._

"Now.", Eloen said suddenly, straightening up (well, actually, she wasn't exactly straight anyway, she was hunched over almost double to begin with, but you know what I mean) and holding up a small container, peering at the label. "Exactly how can I be of assistance?"

Vic looked up at the stone ceiling thoughtfully for several moments before finally looking down at Eloen, a mischievous grin slowly spreading across her face. "Oh...", she started, feigning innocence. "I believe I can think of a few things..."

**XXBackXInXBlackXX**

OMG CHAPTER TWO! YAAAY! LP is a very happy little fanfic writer right about now, and she hopes that all of her ickle readers enjoyed this chapter and that they don't think LP is weird/crazy/strange/all-of-the-above for referring to herself in the third person! WOOT! Also, more of The Goblin King we all know and love and the Sarah we all adore coming next Chapter, NEVER FEAR!

And to all the wonderful people who reviewed Chapter 1...

**writertron:** I am glad you enjoyed Chapter 1. And Jareth and Sarah, yeah sparks are sure to fly. Whether those sparks are good or not remain to be seen muahahaha!

**King Ozymandias: **Constructive criticism is always welcome, and I'm glad you enjoyed, and I hope that some of your questions have been answered!

**artseblis:** I hope some of those questions were answered, and that you enjoyed Chapter 1 enough to want to read more. Hopefully, Chapter 2 did not disappoint too much!

**WhiteInfinity21: **Glad after all of your fanfic writing experience, I somehow managed to catch your eyes! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much as Chapter 1!

**jinx1764:** There are a lot of cells, and I do not think he expected to be thrown in Sarah's cell specifically. Glad you enjoyed!

**Stacy Vorosco:** What every writer wants to hear! Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed my work!

Pleeeease review! Muchas Gracias!


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